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horse had turned skittish and
tried to slow down, but Candy was so intent on winning she kept gigging her on
up to the crest of the peak.
    Behind her, Mickey noticed the dust cloud on the other side
of the hill and realized what was about to happen, but Candy couldn’t hear him
calling. Then, in the same instant, they both seemed to grasp it. Time froze
for a split second.
    Tony was screaming happy as the Mustang almost left the
ground at the top of the hill. He barely glimpsed rider or horse before the
Mustang’s front fender slammed into the pale quarter horse, lifting her up and
throwing her off the road.
    Candy Myers popped off the saddle and sailed even farther,
flip-flopping through the air like a limp doll, landing in a wheat field with a
dull thud.
    As Tony tried to veer the Mustang away, he almost clipped
the second horse as well. He went ashen. Erika grabbed his arm. Though crumpled
badly in front, the car still ran.
    Terrified, Tony pushed her arm off, frantically searching
for a plan as the Mustang idled slowly forward.
    “Oh my God, oh my God, no,” Erika cried. “Stop.”
    “Shut up. I’ve got to think.”
    “Tony, stop the car.” Erika grabbed his arm. But Tony didn’t
brake.
    She screamed, “They could be dead.”
    Strangely, this seemed to decide it for him. Tony suddenly
rammed the gas and the car leapt forward.
    Erika turned to look behind them and saw the young man leap
from his horse and run into the field toward the thrown rider. Stunned that
they were driving away, Erika turned and glared at Tony.
    Then she looked back at the road, and they both realized at
the same moment that they were caught in the rural version of a cul de
sac . “Tony, this is just a big driveway leading in and out of that ranch,”
Erika yelled. “There’s nowhere else to go.”
    “Cocksucker,” Tony screamed and jammed on the brakes. He
stared at the pristine, rambling house for a moment, then yanked the wheel,
pulling the car around in a sharp U-turn and headed back toward the hill.
    When Mickey Mullin finally reached Candy in the field, he
couldn’t tell if she was alive or dead. There was surprisingly little blood,
but her body lay shattered, one leg and arm twisted so unnaturally, it was as
though the bones had been snapped backward.
    He felt for and found her pulse. It was light, but there.
The agonized neighs of her prized quarter horse cut through the air for an
excruciating few moments. Then it was over for her. Mickey counted it a
blessing they wouldn’t have to shoot her.
    Then, in utter amazement, he heard the same car engine cut
through the buzz of insects which had settled over the hilltop. He stood and
watched it scream up the incline and flash past him.
    Mickey shook his fist at it. “Bastard,” he screamed. “You
son of a bitch.” Then he covered Candy with his shirt and leaned in close,
praying she could hear him. “I’ve gotta leave you for just a few seconds to go
get help. I will be back.”
    Tears whipped off his face as he jumped onto his horse and
raced down the hill to the Myers’ ranch.
    In the Mustang, Erika tried to grasp everything that was
happening. She could not get past the fact that Tony hadn’t stopped, didn’t
seem to have even considered it.
    He looked over at her, as though he knew what she was
thinking.
    “Baby, I’m on parole. If I stop, I’m dead meat.”
    “But that girl…” Erika said, starting to cry.
    “Pull it together. Right now all we got to think about is
getting rid of this car. Either help with that or shut the fuck up.”

Chapter 20
    The night lights along Exchange Avenue blinked on when it
turned to dusk. The colored lights in the front window of the Wrangler Bar
& Grill framed the drunken face of Angie Wesner sitting at the bar.
    She was on her third martini, but it wasn’t working. With
each warm sensation as the vodka went down, she felt more and more dejected.
Angie had already tried Gordon’s office on her cell phone. That was